BNFA hosts coaching course
The football season is set to start in September, and as a prelude, the Belize National Football Association is educating its members on the professional aspect of the game. The BNFA along with FIFA is hosting an Olympic Solidarity Coaches Course to aid in the improvement of the sport in Belize. News Five’s Jose Sanchez finds out more.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
Primarily, the goal of the course is to aid youth development through sporting activity. The participants in the one-week intensive training session range from coaches to footballers to teachers. The expected result is that the trainees will apply the newly acquired knowledge to all levels of the sport in Belize.
Dick Howard, FIFA Coach
“We’ll be bringing in FIFA referees to talk to the group. We will also have a doctor talking about the importance of nutrition and the treating of sports injuries. On Friday evening, we will be having a lecture that I’ll give on fair play, which is important not only for football, but also for many sports. On Saturday, we have a game involving two youth teams and we’ll analyze that and sort of sit down and see what we need to do to make the youth players better in Belize. Overall, it’s going to be a mixture of classroom sessions and theory along with the practical, giving the coaches a lot of ideas that they can take back to their communities all over the country and to enable them to make their players a lot better.”
Belize has had both good and bad experiences in the international football arena. Bertie Chimilio, President of the BNFA, said that this is not the first time that members have had outside professional assistance, but the results have always been beneficial.
Bertie Chimilio, President, BNFA
“It has helped in the past. We have several coaches who have done similar courses and they are active. I’m very proud to see one of our ex-national team player here, taking his second or third course and he has been working very hard in the Toledo District and we have other coaches that as I look around, are working in the area. This time we want everybody to get out and do what they have to do and so that the sport is spread to the young people.”
Charles Gutierrez, Coach
“I learn basics, strikes, killing, chopping, passing the ball. I am going back to my district in Toledo and impart it to the children that I train.”
Other than children, the football association and FIFA are finally targeting women as an important group within the sport, whereas women’s football was somewhat disregarded over previous years.
Dick Howard
“Now with the advent of the Women’s World Cup, a lot of attention has been paid to women’s football, and it’s great that the Belize National Football Association invited some females on this course, to work with female players in the country.”
Jean Trapp, Football Player
“Well, I expect to learn from the course to go back home to the Cayo District, Unitedville and help the youths. It starts with discipline from the youths and it’s hard to deal with the older ones right now. So we have to get down to the youths from the primary school level and come up.”
Sherlene Tablada, Teacher, St. Jude R.C. School
“Our school is very involved in sports and we always participate in the different competitions, so it’s important that a teacher has an edge on the sport and can be able to pass on this knowledge to the children.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Jose Sanchez.
The course which started today, ends on Sunday.
